In the current information age, there are often discussions of the desirableness of a paperless society. However, notwithstanding such discussions, there remains a great need by users of computers and other terminal devices (including tablets and mobile phones) for printing functionality. Therefore devices having printing functionality, such as printers, copiers, multi-function devices and etc., continue to play a significant role in information technology (IT) at home and at work.
In recent years, color printing has become more and more popular, and the capability of maintaining the quality of printing, both color and black-and-white (B/W), has been of significant importance, such as, for example, in the fields of graphic arts, photography and color film processing. For purposes of ensuring and maintaining color image quality, various tests have been devised, and such tests are performed on, for example, a color printer to detect any image quality issues.
However, such tests involve a user (e.g., an experienced technician) looking at sample test pages printed by a specific print device and determining visually whether the output of the print device contains any image quality issues and determining, based on personal experience, what steps can be taken to resolve such image quality issues.
Although human perception and interpretation of color and image quality can be useful, reliance on such perception and interpretation can be highly subjective. That is, many factors may cause a person's perception of the color of a particular object to be substantially different from the perception of another. In addition, eye fatigue, age, physiological factors, environmental factors, etc., can influence color perception.
The subjective nature of the results produced by such tests makes it difficult to assess, based on such test results, whether adjustment or overhaul of the tested print device should be performed, and to assess the appropriate adjustment in the print system.
There remains a need for an improved method of assessing the quality of printouts output by print devices in an objective manner.